The Heroine Travel Diaries: Yuffie Kisaragi
by Crystal Rose 21
Summary: This is a Heroine Travel Diary featuring Final Fantasy VII's Yuffie Kisaragi. It gives her perspective on events in the game. Chapter 8, and about time it is!
1. Materia Hunting Days 1&2

~~April 26th, 2019 - Materia Hunting: Day 1~~  
  
Hey! My name's Yuffie Kisaragi. I was born on November 20th and when that date comes, I'll FINALLY be 16. My mom gave this diary to my dad and told him to give it to me before she passed away, so I guess I should take this opportunity to start writing in it. What should I write? Ohhh, I was never too good at this.  
  
I guess I should write a little about myself, then. I said I was going onto 16, my birthday, and my name. I have my own house in Wutai (it was a fifteenth birthday present), I'm descended from a long line of ninjas, and I'm a materia hunter. I know, materia's pretty plentiful, but my hometown doesn't really have any.  
  
It's because of my father. It's his fault.  
  
Before I was born, Wutai was more crowded and more important. Now, it's just a resort town. It's all because of my father's weakness. He surrendered to the Shinra and he tells ME to respect HIM in everything he does! Like hell I will!  
  
We lost the war. We got our peace, but Wutai lost its heart.  
  
However, if I got some materia, I could bring honour back to Wutai! This is why I'm out here, camping out in the forest near Junon. I'm waiting for some "prey". Then when I defeat them, I'll steal all their materia! There's nothing interesting happening right now, so I'll just train.  
  
~~April 27th, 2019 - Materia Hunting: Day 2~~  
  
Oh my gawd, I'm soooo BORED! Maybe I picked the wrong place! Since this place is so close to Midgar, I thought that I'd steal from many people, but no one has come yet! Gah! I'm going to train some more. 


	2. Materia Hunting Day 3 Shameful Encounte...

~~April 29th, 2019 - Materia Hunting: Day 3~~  
  
I got bored and I walked all the way to this place called Fort Condor. After speaking to some people there, I learned that they're against the Shinra too! That's a pretty good thing. I was in such a good mood, I forgot to steal these residents' materia! Oh well, I guess they'll need it if they're going to fight the Shinra! I'm cheering them all on!  
  
Just in case you're wondering dear diary, I didn't write in this yesterday because I found some "prey".  
  
When I came back from Fort Condor, I saw a woman with long dark brown hair, a woman with brown braided hair, a man with blond spiky hair, a man with a gun-arm, and a wolf-like creature walking to Junon. I approached them with caution, but they saw me. I readied my shuriken and they readied their weapons. I was kinda intimidated by the spiky-haired man's big sword, though. That didn't stop me from trying to defeat them! It looked like they didn't want to hurt me too much because I wasn't a monster. The spiky- haired man didn't attack me at all, nor did the man with the gun-arm or the wolf-like creature. The woman with braided hair stood by and waited until the attacker needed healing. Only the dark haired woman attacked me. The woman with the long dark hair knew karate. She kicked and punched me (I think she was trying to go easy on me), but I tried fighting back with my shuriken and some Fire Fangs.  
  
It wasn't long until I went down.  
  
The spiky-haired man approached me, but I got up before he got a chance to do anything.  
  
I said to him, "You spiky-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!" That sounded cool, don't you think?  
  
He didn't think so. Instead, he said, "Not interested."  
  
I thought he was scared, so I asked, "You're pretty scared of me, huh?!"  
  
There was a long pause. ".petrified," he answered.  
  
I began to run. I just had the realization that these guys are stronger than I am.because of their materia! I turned back and I yelled, "I'm gonna leave! I mean it!"  
  
The group glanced at each other and the spiky haired man yelled back, "Wait a second!"  
  
I smirked. My plan was working. I played dumb and I timidly asked them, "You want me to go with you?"  
  
The spiky-haired man looked down with me and he had something in his eyes. What was it? Kindness? No one's ever looked at me like that before. He just said with a smile, ".That's right."  
  
His smile made me smile too for some reason and I answered enthusiastically, "All right! I'll go with you!"  
  
He turned around and he and his group began walking again. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Let's hurry."  
  
I won't let this group's kindness get in the way of my plans for them. 


	3. Battle Time in Junon

~~April 30th, 2019 - Junon~~  
  
When we were walking to Junon, I learned so much about these guys and girls. I'll just write my findings down.  
  
The spiky-haired man's name is Cloud Strife. He's going to be 21, his hometown's Nibelheim, his birthdate's August 19th, and he's after Sephiroth. I thought that was strange, seeing as Sephiroth was killed five years ago. Cloud simply said that Sephiroth was still alive. He said that Sephiroth broke into Shinra's headquarters and stole this thing called "Jenova" and has some sort of plan for it. It's all too confusing for me, so Cloud started telling me the story that took place five years ago. Even after he finished his story, I was still very confused.  
  
The man with the gun-arm's name is Barret Wallace. He's going to be 35, he's from Corel Village (I thought that village got burned down four years ago), his birthdate's December 15th, he has a four year old daughter named Marlene, and he used to lead a group called AVALANCHE whose main goal was to save the planet from the Shinra. Now Cloud's the leader of this group. Whenever Barret talked about his daughter or the other members of AVALANCHE, he looked so proud. I was going to ask him how he got the gun grafted into his arm, but I figured that it wasn't any of my business.  
  
The woman with the brown braided hair's name is Aeris Gainsborough. She's 22, her birthdate's February 7th, and guess what.she's an Ancient! There's only one Ancient, isn't there? Her story's a sad one. She and her birth mother were captured by the Shinra when she was very little. They escaped, but Aeris' birth mother died and luckily, a woman named Elmyra found the both of them. Elmyra promised Aeris' mom that she would take care of Aeris. Aeris was raised around nature (the little nature that Midgar has) and she says that she can hear the planet. As she grew up, the Turks (namely the leader of the Turks, Tseng) began to harass her. The Turks tell her that they want to take her back to Shinra headquarters, but Aeris refuses. She's avoided the Shinra for years, until she met Cloud. Cloud told her that he'd protect her and that's why she's with him. Aeris was captured by the Shinra, and Cloud, Barret and Tifa infiltrated Shinra headquarters to get her back. Aeris can't go back to Midgar for now, and since Cloud promised to protect her, she's journeying with him.  
  
The red wolf-like creature's name is supposedly Red XIII. That CANNOT be anyone's name. Actually, I was surprised that he could talk. Even though he could talk, he didn't say much and seemed pretty quiet, so I didn't ask him a lot.  
  
The tough woman with the long dark brown hair is Tifa Lockheart. She apologized to me for beating me up before I got to say anything. I accepted her apology and got onto inquiring. Tifa's going to be 20, her birthday's in three days, she's also from Nibelheim, she used to own a bar called "7th Heaven" in Midgar, and she's just wants to keep an eye on Cloud. She's strong and brave, and I think she has a thing for Cloud too.  
  
We reached Junon Harbour and we didn't have time to rest. Junon Harbour looked so run-down and upsetting. There wasn't anything that stuck out. We went down to the "beach" and saw a little girl dressed in a yellow bathing suit top, orange shorts and green sandals talking to a dolphin. She told the dolphin that her name was Priscilla. She didn't believe us when we said that we were against Shinra Incorporated and told us to leave. Unfortunately, a weird fish thing attacked us and Priscilla ran into the water to try to save the dolphin.  
  
Cloud quickly took charge and told us what to do. He told Barret and me what to do first, since we were the only ones with long-range weapons. We were supposed to just attack, and use Limit Breaks when we got the chance to. He told Tifa and Red to attack the fish thing with magic. Cloud quickly unequipped one his magic materia and gave it to Tifa just for this battle. He then turned to Aeris and told her to summon Chocobo and Mog, and to heal everyone if needed. Cloud dug into his pants pocket and took out an independent materia and put in one of the slots in his sword.  
  
Then the battle began! I threw my shuriken over and over, each time hoping that this fish would go down soon. Barret was beside me shooting at the fish non-stop. It turned out that the materia Cloud took out of his pocket was a Long Range materia, which let him attack normally from anywhere he was. He charged towards the big ugly fish and he slashed it over and over again. When Cloud seemed like he felt exhausted from all that slashing and the attacks from the big fish, he gave a little signal for Aeris to use the Restore materia. Aeris got the picture and began to cast Cure on him. I was busy looking at Aeris' floating rod (her rod floats whenever she casts her spells), I didn't realize that the big fish was summoning up a big tidal wave! I held my breath as the wave came crashing down. I opened my eyes under the water, trying to see where the others were, but I couldn't see anything. I thought the wave had killed all of them and I got really angry. This group, they allowed me to come with them. They were really nice to me and offered me food. They offered me friendship, even though I was deceiving them.  
  
I reached my limit. I was angry. My blood boiled. I couldn't hold my anger in. I felt some sort of new power too. I directed my anger towards the big ugly fish and an orangey-yellow beam of light surrounded me. I heard myself yelling, "Greased Lightning!" and I began to attack the fish. I ran up to it, cut it with my shuriken, took the shuriken out of the fish, jumped back to my original place and threw my shuriken at the fish. I fell onto my knees from exhaustion.  
  
Then I saw the colour of pink beside me. Aeris was standing at my side ready to use her "special anger attack" (I learned later from Cloud that it was called a "Limit Break"). An orangey-yellow beam of light surrounded her and she yelled, "Healing Wind!" as she held her rod close.  
  
I felt warm wind blowing strength back into me. I felt re-energized. I felt like I could fight again. I stood up, quickly thanked Aeris, ran next to Barret and began throwing my shuriken again.  
  
Tifa and Red stood behind Barret and me, casting Bolt and Fire over and over. Red didn't look very tired, even though he was casting Fire spells one after another. However, Tifa was starting to look tired and she didn't look like she could keep casting Bolt spells. I searched the pockets of my pants and found an Ether. I packed it before because I thought I'd need it, but I didn't. I gave it to Tifa and told her to drink it all. She looked grateful and gave me a smile of thanks before she drank it. She got back to casting Bolt again.  
  
Before I began throwing my shuriken again, I realized that Cloud wasn't attacking anymore. I looked around and saw the Cloud was trapped in a huge bubble! I hit it with my shuriken, but nothing happened. Cloud looked at me and pointed to his sword. I didn't understand him. He kept pointing at his sword. I looked closer and I realized that it wasn't his whole sword he was pointing to. He was pointing to the magic materia in one of his materia slots. I realized that the bubble will burst when magic is used on it. I looked to where Tifa and Red were and called one of them to use their magic to release Cloud. Tifa ran over and she cast Bolt on the bubble. The bubble popped and Cloud was free! Cloud nodded a thanks to both of us and he ran towards the big fish, leapt up with his sword raised high in the air, and sliced the fish in two.  
  
The battle was over and we did our victory dances. Barret looked at the ground, bent down and picked something up. It was a Power Wrist and he gave it to Cloud.  
  
We looked for Priscilla. She wasn't anywhere on the surface, so Cloud dove underwater to look for her. After a few minutes, he came back with her in his arms. He laid her on the ground, stood up and declared that she wasn't breathing. Just then, an old man came running down the steps and also declared that she wasn't breathing. Well, duh. The old man turned to Cloud and told him to perform CPR on her. Everyone's eyebrows shot up. The old geezer just ran down here and told Cloud to do something without asking him. Like, what the hell?  
  
I thought about it again and I figured that the kid didn't deserve to die. We persuaded Cloud to do it. Priscilla coughed to tell us that she was breathing again and the old man picked her up and ran off with her.  
  
We followed the old man up the stairs and when we walked near the first house in Junon Harbour, a woman made a gesture telling us to walk over to her house. When we reached there, she thanked us for saving Priscilla and offered her house for us to stay in. So here I am, writing in this diary with the help of a flashlight. Cloud's mumbling in his sleep. I guess I'll go to sleep now so I won't wake anyone up. 


	4. Still in Junon for Rufus' Presidential C...

~~May 1st, 2019 - Junon Harbour (Rufus' Presidential Ceremony)~~  
  
I woke up to the sound of loud parade music. I jumped out of bed and ran outside the house to see what was going on. The music sounded like it was coming from the city above the harbour. Just what was the music for?  
  
"Yuffie? Why are you out here in your pyjamas?" I heard a voice ask behind me.  
  
I turned around and saw Red. He looked like he just woke up too.  
  
"That music," I said, "it's really loud and it woke me up. Tch, if I wanted wake up music, I'd want it to be punk or trance. Something actually good."  
  
Red shook his head and mumbled something.  
  
I looked down and asked him, "What? Got a problem?"  
  
"Kids today don't know what good music is," he said slowly.  
  
"What do you mean?!" I asked him angrily. He was really beginning to tick me off. "I KNOW what good music is and that," I said, pointing up, "is not!"  
  
Red laughed and said, "I'll tell you what I mean another time, little exuberant one. The others are waking up." With that, turned and walked back into the house.  
  
What the hell was that about?  
  
Anyway, I followed Red back into the house where I found everyone else (with the exception of Cloud) waking up. I showered, brushed my teeth, combed my hair and put my fighting outfit back on. By the time I was done "primping" (like Tifa said), everyone else was already outside (with the exception of Cloud, who was STILL asleep).  
  
I stared at Cloud while he slept. For some reason, I had the sudden thought that he looked kinda cute when he slept. My legs started moving by themselves. As soon as I approached his bedside, I saw his closed eyes squeeze a little as a sign that he was about to wake up. I ran outside as fast as I could, hoping that he didn't catch me staring. I passed Tifa on my way out of the house and she gave me a quizzical look as I passed her.  
  
I ran until I found myself standing next to Red near Priscilla's house. Barret, Aeris and Red stared at me and asked me what happened. I panicked and I told them that nothing ("absolutely nothin'!") happened. They continued to stare at me until Cloud and Tifa came out from the house.  
  
As if on cue, Priscilla came out of the house when Cloud was going up to check her. Cloud asked her how she was feeling and she said that she was fine. She said she was sorry that she thought that we were part of Shinra (well that's good). Cloud accepted her apology.  
  
Then she looked at Cloud closely and she turned into a little perky brat. She grinned and said, "I want to give you something SPECIAL!" Then she turned to me and gave me an evil smile.  
  
Tch, I'm telling you.I think she wanted to piss me off! Well, mission not accomplished! I thought she'd do that to Tifa! What the hell? As if I'd care! So what if Cloud has penetrating blue eyes, cool-looking hair and a nice smile? Huh?? What did I just write?? Oh gawd. I HOPE no one gets his or her hands on this, especially Little Miss Perky!  
  
So anyway, then she said, "It's an amulet." She took Cloud's hand and put the red orb (probably summon materia) in his hand. She closed his and squeezed it with her own. Then she said, "Take care of it, okay?" in her sweetest baby voice. She stared at me the whole time. I pretended I didn't see her. Cloud wrenched his hand free of Priscilla's grip, but gave her a thankful smile.  
  
Thank God Barret changed the subject, "What's that music? It sure sounds lively."  
  
Miss Priss stopped staring into Cloud's eyes and looked at Barret, with a look that gave away that she was annoyed. She said quickly, "I heard that they're rehearsing the reception for the new Shinra President."  
  
Barret looked VERY surprised. He yelled, "Rufus?!" It looked like a lot of people heard him because the people around our group stopped what they were doing and stared. Barret looked around and looked pretty embarrassed. Then he quietly said, "I gotta pay my respects." Everyone who stared at us went back to what they were doing. Barret's gotta control his temper.  
  
Little Miss Perky seemed to have lost some of her perk. "Grandpa and grandma told me this beach was beautiful when they were small. But after the Shinra built that city above, the sun stopped shining here, and the water got polluted. I was raised on that story and now, I Shinra so much, I could die!" At least she and I have something in common.  
  
Aeris spoke, "You think that Rufus is thinking about crossing the ocean from here too?"  
  
Tifa looked startled. "What? Does that mean Sephiroth already crossed the ocean?"  
  
Obviously I missed some things. It looks like our dear Cloud squared off against the new President of Shinra while they were still in Midgar. But according to Red, it looks like Cloud couldn't finish him off.  
  
Barret was determined to get up to the city above. "Mebbe we could climb the tower?" he asked, looking at the tower in the distance.  
  
Priscilla actually looked concerned. "No! No! There's a high voltage current running underneath the tower! Don't wander near it! It's dangerous!" she yelled. Then she looked at Cloud and said, "But.you might be able to if Mr. Dolphin helps you. Follow me!" She ran off in the direction of the beach.  
  
Tifa crossed her arms. "High voltage tower.I guess that means Cloud'll be all right."  
  
Aeris turned to Tifa and then turned to Cloud, with her eyes filled with confidence, "Yeah, better leave it to Cloud!"  
  
Red nodded, "We're counting on you, Cloud!"  
  
They all walked away before Cloud could put in his two cents. I stared at all of them. How could they let Cloud go all alone? He's not able to do this all alone!  
  
Cloud looked at me, his glowing blue eyes begging for me to say something. I was frozen and my mouth couldn't move. I wanted to tell him that I wanted to go with him, but I couldn't. Red walked back to where I was standing and dragged me away before I got the courage to say anything to Cloud.  
  
So anyway, here I am, sitting in Priscilla's grandmother's house writing like crazy in my diary, waiting for Barret's signal to follow Cloud into Junon.  
  
Why couldn't I say anything? I wanted to say something, but my body completely froze. I wish I could talk to someone about this, but they'd think I'm weird or something.  
  
Great, now Barret's yelling at me to put down this pen and start moving my carcass (not in the exact words). Geez, if he has something to say, can't he say it without yelling at me like I'm a little kid? He sounds like my father! 


	5. The Horrible Boat Ride, Costa Del Sol an...

~~May 3rd, 2019 – The Horrible Ship Ride, Costa Del Sol & Tifa's Birthday~~  
  
It's our second day in Costa Del Sol, and I have to say this again: I'm so GLAD to finally get off that boat! I was hurling during the whole boat ride. Cloud gave a Tranquilizer to help me get over the motion sickness, but it really didn't help. Well, at least he tried to help. It was so horrible. I hate ships!  
  
To top it all off, I had to wear a stupid Shinra sailor suit! I hated it  
  
When were about to go to Junon, Barret threw this at me and was like, "Put it on, kid."  
  
I took it off its landing spot (the top of my head) and I spat, "What the hell is this? I'm not putting this on!"  
  
Barret frowned and yelled, "Listen up, kid! You hafta put on the damn suit! It's either that, or the Combatant uniform!" He pointed to Tifa, Aeris and Red, who were holding their Combatant uniforms in disgust. When he saw me stick out my tongue he continued his yelling, "Now you see what I mean?! Get your scrawny (expletory) in the damn house and put the suit on!"  
  
I was about to stomp into the house and then I turned around and asked him, "What're you putting on, ya big bear?"  
  
He raised his eyebrows at me and then quickly said, "That ain't any of your business!" Then he turned around, hoping I didn't catch that sailor suit that was sticking out of his travel pack.  
  
So anyway, back to the boat ride. While I was busy puking my guts out in the cargo area, I couldn't help hearing an evil laugh. I gave myself another Tranquilizer looked up. I think I saw a guy with a very long blade standing over a dead body and laughing like crazy. It looks like he killed that sailor, so I used my super ninja skills to sneak upstairs. I ran upstairs with super stealth and hoped he didn't see me. I think I saw that guy somewhere before, but I can't remember where.  
  
Just when I reached the top of the stairs, I heard an alarm sound and some guy on a radio say, "Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found!"  
  
I gulped. That was probably us, or maybe that crazy guy with the long sword. I was trying to think of where I saw that guy, but I saw Cloud and everyone else. I ran towards them and we started talking.  
  
Cloud asked us if we were all right before we started talking about real business. I was petrified again, and I couldn't say anything about the guy with the long sword.  
  
Tifa looked around. "Everyone's here, right?" She looked around at all of us and when she realized that we were all here, she looked relieved.  
  
I was just staring at Barret now. I was going to start laughing. He looked so dumb in his sailor suit! He looked harmless! He looked like...a bear wearing a marshmallow! Barret caught me trying to stop myself from laughing out loud and glared at me before he put in his two cents. "Hey, wait. You don't think that suspicious character is Sephiroth!?"  
  
I stopped laughing. Now I remembered where I saw that guy with the long sword. Dad showed me a picture of him when I was 11. Dad said that Sephiroth was a great hero before he died. I thought so too. Now I think that Sephiroth is a monster.  
  
Tifa looked surprised. "Really?!"  
  
Barret looked at her and rudely asked, "How the hell am I supposed to know?"  
  
"Um," I heard myself saying. Everyone looked at me. I wish they wouldn't.  
  
Cloud smiled at me with that usual comforting smile of his and said, "Go on, Yuffie."  
  
I gathered up my courage and said, "I think I saw him downstairs!"  
  
Cloud raised his eyebrows, walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders while everyone else stood there, looking shocked. "What did he do, Yuffie? Did he hurt you?"  
  
I looked at him and told him, "He killed someone and he was laughing about it. I sneaked away before he even saw me."  
  
Cloud looked angry, but sort of relieved. "It's a good thing you got out of there while you could, Yuffie. I don't know what we could have done without you."  
  
I smiled and Barret snorted. Cloud's so nice. I'm glad he's the official leader instead of the bear wearing a marshmallow. I forgot all about my motion sickness until the boat started bobbing in the water strongly. I sat down and tried not to hurl in front of everyone.  
  
Cloud looked stood in the middle of our circle and looked around at all of us. "Let's find out what he's going to do."  
  
Red nodded, "It's the most logical thing to do. Then, who's going to go?"  
  
I shook my head and said, "N, not me. I don't even like Sephiroth anyway. And besides," I stopped talking because I was about to puke again. I ran to the side of the ship and started to puke. Aeris joined me and started tapping my back.  
  
"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay with Yuffie," she told the others. Aeris is a nice person too. I guess her bad past taught her to be nicer than other people are.  
  
The rest of them nodded and ran downstairs. Aeris and the surviving Shinra sailor nearby helped take care of my motion sickness. It wasn't long until some guy on the radio say that the boat will be docking in Costa Del Sol (yay, a beach!) in 5 minutes.  
  
"Let's go hide until the boat's docked, Yuffie," Aeris told me. Then she turned to the Shinra sailor, "Thank you so much for your help, sir."  
  
We started walking away while the sailor waved at us and said, "My pleasure! And thanks for the flower!"  
  
Aeris and I met up with the others after the boat docked. The others told us about their fight against Jenova. Aeris and I missed a lot! Damn my motion sickness!  
  
Barret spoke up, "Damn! Sure is hot in here! But I sure feel better now that I could say good-bye to this sailor suit! Yo listen up!! Y'all be sure to mingle like regular folks here!  
  
I didn't hear his second sentence. I started laughing again. This time I laughed out loud.  
  
Aeris sounded like she didn't understand the hilarity of the situation, "Oh, that's too bad. I really liked Barret's sailor suit. He looked so cute."  
  
Barret frowned at her, "Whatcha mean 'cute'?"  
  
Tifa tried changing the subject, but one look at Barret changed her objective. "Right, well uh, Barret, why don't you use that sailor suit for pyjamas?" She turned to Cloud, "Right, Cloud?"  
  
Cloud looked at Barret. Shortly after, he looked like he was trying to stop himself from laughing. "Ahh, you look like a bear wearing a marshmallow," he said, trying to stop himself from laughing out loud.  
  
I laughed even harder because that's what I think too. Barret got really steamed and started stomping his feet on the deck.  
  
Red started coughing. I turned and saw that he looking kinda sick. The poor guy. He said that the sun was drying his nose. I felt sorry for him and said that mine was too. The rest of the group raised their eyebrows at me. I thought it over and decided that what I said was really stupid.  
  
"All right," Cloud said, breaking the silence, "We'll take a break and then head off. Don't wander far off."  
  
Red sighed and looked very relieved. "It looks like my mane got messed up. I'm going to rest somewhere cool." With that, he slowly walked in the direction of the main part of the town.  
  
Finally! A beach! Now's the time to relax! "Don't bother looking for me!" I yelled as I ran into the main part of the town.  
  
When I reached the bridge that connected the town to the docks, I saw a guy trying to find a girl to help him sell materia. That was a big opportunity for me to steal some materia. But then I changed my mind. What would the others think? Besides, I could steal their materia instead. They trust me now and wouldn't expect me to do what I'm gonna do. I'd better lay low for now.  
  
"Yuffie?" I heard Aeris say behind me. "Aren't you going down to the beach with the rest of us?" she asked me.  
  
I nodded and went with her. For a beach resort, there's really nothing for a teenager to do except to relax to the beach. Tifa shortly joined us. She said she saw one of her old friends, but she'd like to relax before she caught up on old times. We walked down to the beach and Aeris stopped in her tracks.  
  
"What's the matter?" I asked her.  
  
Tifa looked at what Aeris was looking at and gasped.  
  
"What the heck are you looking at?" I asked angrily. I was being left out. I pushed myself between their bodies and looked at what they were looking at.  
  
They were looking at a pale ugly old scientist-type guy. Gross! And he was surrounded by a whole bunch of googly-eyed girls who were feeding him food and massaging his feet! Double gross!  
  
We didn't notice Cloud sneak up behind us. "What're you three staring at?"  
  
Aeris turned around and said, "Oh Cloud!!" She was obviously too surprised to say anything else.  
  
Tifa pointed at the ugly old man and said, "Look at that!!"  
  
Cloud looked above their heads. "Hm? Who, Hojo? Is that man over there Hojo?"  
  
Tifa nodded and commanded him to "go over there and talk to him". Cloud walked over to where that guy Hojo was (surrounded by all those girls...you'd think he paid them or something). Tifa, Aeris and I followed him.  
  
One of the girls looked up at Cloud and the rest of us and shrieked, "God!! What do you want?"  
  
Cloud ignored her rudeness and pointed to Hojo. "I want to talk with that man," he commanded.  
  
The rude girl mumbled something that sounded like "who do you think you are, you punk?" and said, "Professor Hojo, that scary man says he wants to talk to you."  
  
Hojo just sat in his chair with his eyes closed. "I'm busy right now."  
  
The rude girl looked at Cloud again and tried making up an excuse (it looked like Cloud scared her), but she got up the courage to say, "Too bad."  
  
Hojo looked up. He looked like he recognized Cloud, Tifa and Aeris. "No," he said, "I remember you all now. Yes, Yes. I remembered now." He got up from his chair. "It's been a long time, Cloud. Well, sometimes you've got to do something like this."  
  
What a weirdo! I don't even want to think about what he's doing.  
  
Cloud gave him a puzzled look, "What are you doing?"  
  
"It should be obvious," he said, "I'm getting a tan."  
  
Ugh...He SHOULD be getting a tan...but...gross!  
  
Cloud didn't take him seriously, "Answer me!"  
  
Hojo grinned. "Hmm! I believe we're after the same goal."  
  
"You mean Sephiroth," Cloud said.  
  
"Did you see him?" Hojo asked, walking up to Cloud. After examining Cloud's face, he started laughing as if he knew something we didn't.  
  
Cloud got mad, "What is it?"  
  
Hojo stopped laughing and said innocently, "Nothing. I just remembered a certain hypothesis." He looked at Cloud closely. "Haven't you had the feeling someone is calling you? Or that you had to visit some place?"  
  
"I'll go anywhere Sephiroth is at!" Cloud exclaimed, "To beat him and put an end to all this!"  
  
Hojo grinned. "I see. This can be interesting. Were you in SOLDIER?" He laughed. "Would you like to be my guinea pig?"  
  
At this point, Cloud looked really pissed off and started to draw his sword.  
  
Hojo didn't stop there. "Oh, now what? Are you going to draw your sword?" Hojo laughed again.  
  
As much as this guy pissed me off, I didn't want him to die, yet. "Stop Cloud!" I yelled, clutching onto his arm, "If he dies, we won't get anymore information!"  
  
Cloud looked down at me and then put his sword away. I sighed, relieved.  
  
Hojo laughed again, then he turned to Aeris. "Say, aren't you the 'Ancient'?"  
  
"I'm Aeris. The least you can do is remember my name, Professor Hojo," Aeris said sternly. "I know I'm an Ancient. My mother told me."  
  
I grinned. Aeris was showing Hojo some attitude. At least SOMEONE was standing up to him. I was just kinda surprised that it was Aeris.  
  
Hojo didn't look damaged. "Your mother?" he asked, and when seeing Aeris getting angrier than she already was, he quickly said, "Oh, you mean Ifalna. How is she?"  
  
A flicker of sadness crossed Aeris' face when she exclaimed, "You didn't know?! She died."  
  
Hojo turned around and simply said, "I see."  
  
Aeris was full of questions. "Professor Hojo, is Jenova an Ancient? Is Sephiroth an Ancient? Do we all have the same blood?"  
  
Hojo started mumbling and sat back in his chair.  
  
Mumbling equals you're hiding something, which I pointed out. Even after our cries for Hojo to answer us, he still said nothing. Cloud gave up and told us to split up and have fun.  
  
I went swimming. I haven't been swimming in a long time. I was really nice to relax after days of materia hunting and fighting. Aeris was sleeping in the inn. Tifa went to visit her childhood friend, Johnny. Red was resting in the shadows of two buildings, hitting a soccer ball to some kids with his tail. Cloud was all over the place, checking up on all of us. He should really learn how to relax! He has to work the hardest out of us all.  
  
Where was Barret, you ask? Well, I didn't see him during the day. When I came into the inn, after a day of relaxation (and trying to find Tifa a birthday present), I wanted to go into the bathroom for a shower. When I knocked on the door, I heard gunshots and a Barret-like voice yell, "Hey, yo!! Someone's in here, awright!!"  
  
Apparently, our dear friend Barret spent the whole day in the bathroom trying on his sailor suit. I didn't even get to shower until 11:00, which was when he came out and announced that he was going to the pub.  
  
Gawd...Anyway today's Tifa's 20th birthday. We let her sleep in today and when she woke up, we surprised her with a big breakfast. We invited her friend Johnny too. She was so happy, she started to cry. She thanked us over and over. We had to get going quickly, so we had the birthday cake (vanilla with blue flowers on it – Aeris and I baked it) and we gave her our presents by the time it was 10. All of us didn't have a lot of time to find Tifa a birthday present because we were busy fighting and hiding.  
  
Barret gave Tifa a Fire Ring that he found in the old Shinra villa (he didn't tell her that he found it in the Shinra villa, otherwise she would've told him to take it back).  
  
Aeris gave Tifa some hairpins that she made herself. They looked so pretty. Aeris decorated them with pink, blue, white and purple flowers. She dried the flowers and then stuck them on the hairpins she bought at the Item Shop in Costa Del Sol.  
  
Red gave Tifa a Star Pendant. I have no idea where or how he got it. Tifa was very thankful and gave a pat on his nose.  
  
Cloud gave Tifa a necklace he made from the necklace taken from a Star Pendant and Tifa's materia. I remembered Tifa saying that she couldn't find her materia (because she unequipped herself before she went to visit Johnny), but I guess that's where it all went. It looked so beautiful. Four materia, Tifa's "Steal", "Enemy Skill", "Seal" and "Heal" materia, all in one necklace. That was so sweet of Cloud!  
  
I didn't know Tifa as long as the others did and I tried to find out what she liked and what she didn't like. It was hard. I was never good at thinking of gifts for other people. I looked everywhere in Costa Del Sol and tried to find the perfect gift for Tifa. I learned from Cloud that she used to play the piano when she was little and she would really want to play the piano again. I also know that she needed an upgrade for her glove, which was a Mythril Claw (which was slowly coming apart). It's too bad I couldn't find a portable piano, but I did find her an upgraded glove. I gave her a Motor Drive (which I bought off some guy standing outside the Shinra villa) and I threw in a Carbon Bangle too. She looked very grateful and gave me a hug.  
  
Lastly, Johnny gave Tifa a very expensive-looking bracelet. It was loaded with rubies! We all stared at it while Tifa held it in her hands. I wonder how much he paid for it.  
  
After the partying was finished, Cloud gave us one hour to get ready before we leave. I didn't have any business to finish up, so I'm writing again. That's basically what happened for the past few days. 


	6. Stuck in a Desert Prison and Barret's Ba...

~~May 5th, 2019 – Stuck in a Desert Prison & Barret's Bad Mood~~  
  
So I'm sitting here in this broken down house, writing in my diary and waiting for Cloud, Barret and Tifa to come back from the latest mission. We got ourselves in a load of trouble this time. Right now, all of us are in a desert prison near the Gold Saucer for doing absolutely nothing wrong!  
  
Okay, when we left Costa Del Sol, we had to climb Mt. Corel. It took almost two days, but we made it to the other side. During the trip, Barret seemed a little...uptight. It's like he didn't want to climb the mountain at all. Hah, who could blame him? I didn't want to climb the mountain either. Well, the things you've gotta do to get what you want, right?  
  
It took almost the whole entire day to climb Mt. Corel because we had minor setbacks (like mine tracks collapsing when we step on them, monsters and other stuff). It was close to nightfall when we reached North Corel. That's when the trouble started.  
  
The village was filled with sad-looking people. It looks like something bad happened here a long time ago. There were rocks scattered everywhere. These people were living in tents and didn't seem rich at all. They had to work really hard to get by.  
  
One of the men looked up from what he was doing. He looked at the rest of us quickly, but he stared at Barret. Then he exclaimed, "You, You're...Hey!! He's back!"  
  
Barret hung his head, as if he didn't want to be seen. Then he turned to us and said, "Wait here."  
  
Barret walked up to the guy who was staring at him and the guy punched him! Barret didn't even fight back! That's not really like him...  
  
The guy looked mad. "Well, lookey here! Never thought I'd see your face again!" Then he turned to us and said, "Those people over there, they with you? Well I feel sorry for 'em! Hangin' around a walkin' death sentence like Barret!"  
  
'Walkin' death sentence'? What did they mean? I know he has a gun grafted into his arm, but...I don't think he'd kill us, would he?  
  
Another guy made a fist at Barret and yelled, "You've got a lot of balls comin' back here! Look at this place! It's all YOUR fault that North Corel turned into a garbage heap!"  
  
The guy who punched Barret yelled, "Why doncha say something? Or did ya forget what you done here already?!"  
  
"I'm sorry..." Barret said quietly.  
  
Barret? Apologizing? With the way he is, I thought that he would've gotten mad and would've done something crazy. Gosh, this must've been something –really- bad.  
  
The guy making a fist swore and said angrily, "You ain't even worth the effort!"  
  
The other guy yelled to the other citizens who were glaring at Barret, "Don't waste time talkin' to that techno-freak!"  
  
Techno-freak...?  
  
Cloud moved over to Barret's side. He had an expression of pure concern on his face.  
  
Barret turned around and silently said, "You heard 'em. It's my fault this town was...destroyed."  
  
It was his fault that this town was destroyed? I know Barret looks a little dangerous, but he doesn't really look like the type to destroy a whole entire town.  
  
We moved through the town, trying to avoid eye contact with the citizens. Some of the people commented that we looked as weird as a guy in a black cape who had a tattoo of a '1' on his arm. He passed through the town moments ago and headed toward the ropeway station. Cloud heard this comment and headed towards the ropeway station, which was connected to the Gold Saucer – a big casino/amusement park thing. I've never been to the Gold Saucer before! Then again, we're here on business, but I wanna have fun!  
  
When we reached the ropeway station, Cloud turned around to see if Barret was feeling a little better. He really wasn't. He was staring at the ground and looked really upset.  
  
Aeris got the idea. "Barret, what happened?" she asked, concern in her voice.  
  
Barret mumbled, "Sorry," still staring at the ground.  
  
That really wasn't a good answer. Cloud felt so too. "What happened?" he asked Barret again.  
  
Barret looked up this time, "My hometown used to be here."  
  
'Used to'? What did he mean by 'used to'? Red had the same thoughts as I did because he asked Barret the same thing.  
  
Barret responded with, "It ain't here no more. Heard it got buried...in just four years."  
  
Uh, so what did he have to do with that?  
  
Aeris frowned and asked, "But how could those people say those terrible things?"  
  
Barret didn't seem to hear her. He just said that it was all his fault. He told us his story, about how his best friend, Dyne, was opposed to the building of the Mako Reactor in Mt. Corel. He thought that it was kinda betraying their forefathers, the people who worked in the coalmines. Barret was the one who convinced Dyne that coal was useless now. One day, Barret and Dyne were away from the town. When they were gone, the village was burned down by Shinra troops.  
  
Cloud was appalled. "Shinra troops?!" he cried. "What for!?"  
  
Barret looked at him and answered, "There was an explosion at a reactor. Shinra blamed the accident on the people. Said it was done by a rebel faction."  
  
Tifa looked shocked. "That's so terrible!"  
  
Barret turned to her and said, "Well, I guess that's true. But more than Shinra, I couldn't forgive myself. Never should've gone along with the building of the reactor..."  
  
Tifa shook her head, "Don't blame yourself. We were all fooled by the promises Shinra made back then."  
  
Now Barret showed signs of being pissed off. "That's why...that's why I get so pissed off!! Not only did they take advantage of me, but I lost my wife Myrna too..."  
  
The guy in the booth for the tram was getting impatient and ruined the mood. "Hey everyone! If you want to go to the Gold Saucer, hurry and get on!" he yelled.  
  
Cloud got a flicker of annoyance in his eyes and yelled, "Let's get on!" He walked into the tram.  
  
Barret began staring at the floor again. "Dyne was my best friend. We was close ever since we was kids..." He followed Cloud into the tram.  
  
Tifa silently said, "I never knew. Barret never said a thing."  
  
There was silence, and I broke it, "I'm not sympathizing with Barret! He never should have trusted the Shinra!" I stomped into the tram.  
  
Now that I think about it, I never should have said that. I mean, how could he have known what would've happened? The Shinra have different ways of manipulating people, and I guess that if I were in Barret's position, I probably would've done the same thing. Maybe I should start thinking before I say anything.  
  
As soon as everyone was on board, the tram set off towards the Gold Saucer. It was past sunset when we got to the Gold Saucer. We all got off the tram and we had to pay for a 3000 gil one-day ticket. Isn't that a little pricey? Get this - a lifetime pass is 30000 gil! That's insane! Cloud looked a little hesitant to pay 3000 gil for the one-day ticket.  
  
After Cloud paid for the ticket, we walked in the weird pink thing. We ended up in this big yellow room with 7 entrances in it.  
  
Aeris looked really glad to be here. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "Let's have fun!" She looked a Barret and said softly, "I know this isn't the right time to do this." She walked up to Barret, looked up at him and said, "Hey, Barret, cheer up!"  
  
Barret the Grouch simply said, "I ain't in no cheery mood. So jus' leave me alone."  
  
Aeris looked disappointed. "Really?" she asked him. "Well, that's too bad." She walked up to Cloud and took his arm. "Let's go!" she exclaimed.  
  
I'm really sorry, but I felt a pang of anger. I mean, does Cloud like that? Girls clinging to him?  
  
Aeris and Tifa started whispering to each other. I have no clue what they were saying and I didn't really care.  
  
Aeris walked up to Barret again and said in her cute tone, "We're gonna go play."  
  
Barret got really pissed off. "So PLAY!" He yelled, raising his arms in the air and swearing. "Don't forget we're after Sephiroth!" With that said, he ran away.  
  
Gosh, I never really thought that anyone could get mad at Aeris. I didn't think anyone could. I mean, she's really nice and she tries doing things to make everyone feel better. Although she does have a gift for stating the obvious, "I think he's mad," she said.  
  
"He'll be fine," Tifa said, "He seems to be doing a little better now."  
  
Tifa and Aeris started talking to each other, while Red lay on the floor, probably trying to catch some sleep. Cloud looked a little tired. Well, he must be, if he has to put up with that all day.  
  
I was busy thinking of what to do, I didn't even notice Cloud walk up to me. "Um, Yuffie? D'you want to come tour the Gold Saucer with me? I kinda need some quiet," he said.  
  
I was so surprised; I didn't know what to say. I just nodded and stammered, "L-let's go!"  
  
He nodded and said, "So, where do you want to go?"  
  
"Um ...How about Speed Square?" I suggested.  
  
"Alrighty then! Let's go!" Cloud said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me down the tube that led to Speed Square.  
  
When we landed in Speed Square, a train-mine station-looking place, I had to ask him, "Have you been here before?"  
  
He looked down at me (and that's when I noticed that I was really short compared to him) and said, "Nope, I just heard about this place when I was in SOLDIER. Some of my friends sneaked off all the way here to look for a little fun. Well, let's just say they got much more than they bargained for." He began laughing.  
  
Some muscular guy walking around shirtless glanced over at us and came over to talk to us. Actually, he really came to talk to Cloud. He completely ignored me.  
  
"Hey boy," he said in a booming, harsh voice.  
  
Cloud stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. "Boy..."  
  
Heh, if I were a 21-year-old guy, I would've gotten angry if someone called me that too.  
  
The muscular guy started to flex his muscles. "How is it? You having fun?" he asked, and then without us responding he assumed, "So you ARE having fun. Well good. Good for you boy."  
  
I thought, Yeah, okay, ya stupid jerk. IGNORE ME! I don't care!  
  
Cloud was getting irritated too. He frowned at the guy and harshly said, "My name's Cloud," then he added, "And stop calling me boy."  
  
It didn't matter. The weird muscleman wasn't listening. He somehow "heard" us ask him his name. I'm telling you, he seemed really self-centered. By the way, his name's Dio.  
  
Then he asked Cloud out of the blue (the last question we'd expect from him), "Say, d'you know what a 'Black Materia' is?"  
  
Black Materia...? What's that? Well, whatever that is, it sounds cool and all-powerful! I might be able to snatch it, if I knew where it was.  
  
Cloud put his analytical face on (you know, when someone frowns and stares really hard at something as if they want to read its mind or something) and asked, "What is it?"  
  
Dio laughed really loud (and people around us started staring at us) and when he calmed down he said, "I say, that's a good one, boy! But it's not good to lie. You can't fool me."  
  
I have no clue what a 'Black Materia' is, and I don't know if Cloud knows what it is, but it sure sounds fishy...and powerful!  
  
Then after Cloud asked Dio why he asked him what it was, Dio responded with, "Well, a while back, a boy your age came in and asked me if I had a 'Black Materia'. I thought you might know who he was, seein' as how you're both about the same age."  
  
Cloud and I looked at each other as if the name 'Sephiroth' crossed our minds at the same time.  
  
"Did he happen...to have a black cape?" Cloud inquired.  
  
Dio answered, "Why yes, yes he did. And a tattoo on his hand that said '1'."  
  
Cloud looked like he was gonna jump into the air if he didn't calm down. He almost hit me while he loudly asked, "Where did he go?!"  
  
Dio laughed again. He looked pretty amused. He said, "I have no idea. Well then. I say, stop by the Battle Arena if you like, boy. You'll probably like it. Many of my collections are on display there." He started laughing as he walked off.  
  
That guy is pretty darn weird.  
  
Cloud started scratching his head, trying to think what to do. I really thought that he'd restart his "Let's Get Sephiroth!" spree. We didn't even get to have any fun either!  
  
He turned to me and started standing that weird way he always stands and asked me, "Jeez, I'm sorry. Dio only paid attention to me and not to you. Hope you're not angry. So, do you want to play the roller coaster game here? Or do you want to go somewhere else instead?"  
  
I really thought he was gonna go, 'let's find Sephiroth!' but he didn't! I really tried to not look like I was happy or relieved or anything. I think he noticed, though. I said that I wanted to try the roller coaster game. He nodded and we went in the direction of the roller coaster game. Did I mention that he took hold of my hand this time?  
  
My hand! Gawd, I hope he didn't see my face turn crimson. I've NEVER had a guy hold my hand before. Well, that's probably most of the guys in Wutai don't really approve of me being an outgoing ninja. A lot of them think it's really boyish. Anyway, I'll talk about that another time.  
  
So anyway, we're playing the roller coaster game. I actually did pretty well! It was just like throwing a shuriken, but you have to get used to the fact that you're using a laser-gun-thing instead of a shuriken. It would've been a snap if the targets weren't so small, or if they didn't move so fast, or if I wasn't stuck in this coaster! Cloud was sitting in the seat behind me and he was doing better than I was doing. He was hitting all his targets! He even got that giant UFO that was at the end of the course.  
  
In the end, we got 6000 points! Cloud let me pick out a prize. I chose a necklace with a beautiful sapphire flower charm. We had points left over, but I chose not to use them. I insisted that Cloud should redeem them (he really wanted me to use them all). After all, he got most of the points! He told me to choose something for him so I chose a silver chain with a sword charm attached to it.  
  
"I didn't know that was there!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, Yuffie!" He put it on and smiled at me.  
  
I smiled back. "No problem! If ya need someone to help choose something again, I'm your girl!"  
  
As we were walking back to the Speed Square lobby, he said to me, "Know what? One of my friends said that he had a great time in Wonder Square. It's like a huge arcade. But, if you don't like the kind of games where you fight against a visible machine or video games, then we could go somewhere else."  
  
"I LOVE video games!" I exclaimed. I think I said it a little too loud, so I quieted down a bit. I needed to look and sound mature. "I'd love to see what Wonder Square would be like!"  
  
Cloud grinned. "Alright. I was hoping you'd say that. Actually, I thought that you'd say no. You're pretty different, Yuffie."  
  
With that he took hold of my arm and started running towards the door that had 'Wonder Square' lit up at the top of it.  
  
He said that I was different! Wait, why am I so happy?  
  
Anyway, after we ran through the door, we found a tube and we figured that we had to jump in it. We did and we ended up at Wonder Square. There was a big stuffed white mog with a black cat wearing a cape holding a yellow megaphone on top of its head there.  
  
"Hey you!" the cat yelled.  
  
I didn't want to talk to it. It didn't look ...normal.  
  
The cat looked at me and asked, "What're you lookin' so down for?"  
  
I narrowed my eyes at it and then it turned to Cloud.  
  
"How 'bout it?" it asked, "Want me to read your fortune!? A bright future! A happy future! Oh, but don't hold it against me if it's not a great prediction! Oh, so sorry! I'm a fortune-telling machine. The name's Cait Sith."  
  
Cait Sith? As in 'fairy cat'? Tch. I'd really love to hear one of his fortunes.  
  
Cloud crossed his arms. "You could only read the future?" he asked, not seeming very interested.  
  
"You kidding?! I can find missing things, missing people, anything!" Cait Sith claimed.  
  
Cloud seemed interested. "Then, can you tell me where a man named Sephiroth is?"  
  
Whaaaat? Where Sephiroth is? Look, I know we need information, but I don't think we should be asking this cat, I thought.  
  
"Sephiroth, right? Well, here goes!" Cait Sith exclaimed. Then it started doing this weird shuffle thing! Is that how people tell fortunes?  
  
When Cait was done his...er...predicting, the mog took a piece of paper that appeared from somewhere in its fur and handed over to Cloud.  
  
"What's it say, Cloud?" I asked, thinking that it'd be something stupid.  
  
Cloud looked at the piece of paper and read what it said out loud, "Ordinary luck. It will be an active fortune. Give into the good will of others, and something big'll happen after summer." He frowned at Cait Sith. "What...What's this?"  
  
The cat looked confused too (that really sounds weird). Then he tried again. The mog started doing his weird shuffle thing and took another piece of paper that appeared from that place in its fur and handed it to Cloud.  
  
This time the fortune said, "Be careful of forgetfulness." The stupidest thing it said was, "Your lucky colour is blue."  
  
Cloud got pissed off at this point. "Forget it," he said, taking my arm. "Let's go."  
  
"Wait!" Cait cried, running behind us. "Wait, give me another chance!" When he finally caught our attention, he tried his shuffle (a little faster than the other two times) again and the mog took a third piece of paper that appeared from that mysterious place in its fur. He handed it to Cloud.  
  
Cloud read it silently this time, and then he got a shocked expression on his face.  
  
"What? What's it say, Cloud?" I asked, trying to stand on my toes to see the paper.  
  
He read it slowly, "What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear."  
  
Pursue? Was the fortune referring to Sephiroth? But the "lose something dear" part scared me? Would that be any one of us? Cloud doesn't look he has anyone else...  
  
Seeing the shocked expressions on our faces, the cat said, "I don't know if it's good OR bad...This is the first time I ever got something like THIS." The cat leaned forward, "Then shall we?"  
  
I stared at him. "Then shall we what?" I asked. What's he up to?  
  
Cait sighed. "As a fortune teller, I can't help but think about this. If I don't see what it leads to, I won't be able to relax. That's why I'm going with you!"  
  
"Wha?!" I practically screamed. "Cloud, don't let him come!" I cried, tugging on his arm. Then I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear, "He's kinda...unsavory."  
  
Cait stared at me for a moment and said, "I'm comin' with you no matter WHAT you say!"  
  
It was pretty clear to Cloud that this weirdo wasn't going anywhere, so he whispered in my ear, "I know how you feel, but I have absolutely no choice here. To tell the truth, I want to see what the fortune means too."  
  
Don't we all.  
  
"So!" Cait said (very loudly), stepping between us. "Where shall we go next?"  
  
"Why don't we just stick you in with the chocobos?" I mumbled.  
  
He heard me. "You want to go to Chocobo Square? Okay, then!" Then the mog grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the tube that was labeled "Chocobo". Cloud ran behind us. I pushed down the tube and before I knew it, I was on the ground, rubbing my butt.  
  
Cloud and Cait came down shortly after. When he saw me on the ground, Cloud glared at the cat and ran to help me up.  
  
"Heh, sorry." Cait sheepishly said. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to shove you down so hard."  
  
"I'm okay." I answered, while taking a hold of Cloud's arm. I was very close to adding 'no thanks to you' at the end of that statement.  
  
As soon as I fully got up, we heard some sort of commotion outside. Cloud told to us to stay back while he looked outside. He gasped and stepped backwards.  
  
"Cloud, what..." I stopped as soon as he raised a hand to silence me.  
  
The commotion outside stopped. Cloud nodded his head to tell me that I could start speaking again.  
  
I started again, "Cloud, what was going on? What was all the noise about?"  
  
Cloud took a couple steps towards Cait and me. "Shinra soldiers," he said. He only had to say those two words to get me to know what he meant.  
  
"Even here?!" I asked, total surprise in my voice, and I WAS surprised. I didn't think that Shinra would come here, of all places.  
  
"Even here. I don't think we should stay here any longer. Rufus knows who we are, who I am," Cloud explained, "I won't be surprised to find out that they're looking for us too."  
  
Cait stayed quiet. C'mon, if I were him, I'd be asking what was going on. I wouldn't be just standing there, listening to everything we're saying. I think he's up to something. Something, but I don't know what...the swindler.  
  
"Let's go somewhere else then," I said, running out of the tunnel, into the front of the Chocobo Square betting area. Cloud chased after me (he couldn't keep up, heh). I ran into the tunnel that was marked "Battle Square". I climbed up the ladder at the end of the tunnel. I waited for Cloud and that sneaky cat at the top of the ladder before going on. I didn't want to go on alone, not with Shinra soldiers crawling around the place.  
  
When climbed to the top of the ladder, Cloud tried to shoot an angry look at me and said, "Gods, you're fast! Just don't do that again, or else I'm gonna have to cast Haste on myself and chase you down and drag you back!"  
  
He started walking past me and I followed, laughing. Cait came up last and ran behind us telling us to slow down. Know what was weird? Usually, you'd hear music and people talking in the background when you're walking through the tunnel. This time, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.  
  
When Cloud stepped out of the tunnel, he stood there for a second and then ran out. I started to run behind him. When I got out of the tunnel, I saw him crouched over a body. A dead body. I've seen a lot of those, but it still gets to me. Cloud mumbled something and then he ran up the long purple-carpeted steps. Very fast, I might add.  
  
"Hey! Cloud! Don't leave me alone here!" I yelled, and I ran after him.  
  
Cait ran behind me and yelled at me about the fact that I was ignoring him. I wasn't exactly ignoring him. It's just really hard to have a stuffed moogle and a cat protect you. Cats, maybe. Stuffed moogles? Not really.  
  
When we reached inside the actual arena, we saw dead bodies everywhere. All of them were apparently shot, according to Cloud. One soldier was still hanging on. When we tried to talk to him, he only mentioned a man with a gun on his arm.  
  
A man with a gun on his arm? No way. He couldn't have. Not him.  
  
We heard a voice behind us. A booming, harsh voice that said, "Hold it right there! And stay quiet!!" Dio ran into the arena with a whole bunch of soldiers following him. He looked around and then turned to us, "Did you guys do this!?" he asked.  
  
Cloud looked partially scared. His heart was probably beating a mile a minute. "N, no!" he stammered (pretty surprising), "It wasn't us!"  
  
When Dio turned around, giving orders to his soldiers, Cait said to us, "Hurry and run; it's gonna get ugly."  
  
I believed him this time. Maybe he's trustworthy, but then again...  
  
We started running into the next room (that looked like a dungeon) and Dio yelled at his soldiers to start chasing us. We got trapped. There was no way out and the way we came in was blocked. Cloud pleaded to tell his story, but Dio wouldn't listen and he sent his robots after us. The next thing I knew was getting trapped in the arms of this robot thing and then I was thrown down some hole into a desert prison. Cloud was the last one to get thrown here.  
  
"Are you all right?" I asked Cloud. He looked like he had a pretty hard fall.  
  
"Yeah," he answered. He looked around, "Where are we?"  
  
Cait piped up, "A desert prison, Corel prison."  
  
"Desert prison?" Cloud and I said together.  
  
Cait nodded, "Yup, a natural prison in the middle of the desert, surrounded entirely by quicksand. I heard that once you get in, you never get out. . . There was one special exception."  
  
There was total silence after that. I looked around and I spotted someone I knew near the fence. "Hey," I said, getting Cloud's attention, "Isn't that Barret over there?"  
  
Cloud looked where I was looking, "So it is. Let's go."  
  
We walked over to where Barret was standing and Cloud started interrogating him, "Barret, did you..."  
  
He was interrupted by Barret, "Stay back!" he yelled, "This is something I gotta deal with. Jus' leave me alone!" With that, he ran away.  
  
Cait scratched his head. "That's one of your friends?! He sure looks dangerous."  
  
Cloud shot him an angry look and turned to me, "Let's follow him, Yuffie."  
  
We started to run after Barret, with Cait trailing behind (as usual). We followed Barret into a burnt house (avoiding thieves and other unsavory guys on our way there).  
  
As soon as we got into the house Barret turned around and yelled, "Didn't I tell you not to come here?!"  
  
Gawd, what the hell's his problem now?!  
  
Cait got scared. "J,just hold on for a second! We just want to talk! You'll understand if you just hear us out!"  
  
Then Barret pointed his gun at us. The same line went through my head over and over, IOh my gawd, he's gonna kill me; Oh my gawd, he's gonna kill me.  
  
He fired, but he didn't fire at us. He fired at something else. When he stopped firing, we heard a body collapse behind the burnt sofa. I guess the guy died instantly.  
  
Barret looked at the floor and said, "I didn't want none of ya to get involved..."  
  
Suddenly the door burst open. Aeris, Tifa and Red came running into the house to see what was going on. I wondered how they got down here.  
  
"Hey! That's Cloud's line! 'It's too dangerous, I can't let you get involved'. Blah, blah, blah," Aeris said, imitating Cloud's "leaderly/fatherly" way of saying it. Hey...sad, but true.  
  
Tifa grinned at Aeris and then turned to Barret, "Yeah, we're already involved in this."  
  
Cloud scratched his head, indicating that he wanted to know how they got here. Aeris saw this and said, "We saw you ran here." That didn't exactly answer the question. Then she asked Barret, "Barret, just tell us what's going on!"  
  
Red XIII nodded and said, "I heard that the murders at the Battle Arena were done by a man with a gun-arm. Was that you?"  
  
Barret started talking. He told us that there was another guy who got a gun grafted into their arm too. Four years before (yeah, we're continuing the first half of the story that he told us before), Barret and Dyne (Barret's best friend, remember?) were returning from a trip to the Mako Reactor and they ran into an old man, who told then that the village was in trouble. Anyway, they were trying to get back to the village when they got attacked by Shinra soldiers and the hyena (Scarlet). Dyne was knocked over and was about fall off a cliff and Barret grabbed his left arm. Then the soldiers continued shooting them and they ended up losing one arm each. Barret survived, but he didn't know what became of Dyne.  
  
Barret took a short rest from speaking and then spoke again, "From then on, I couldn't use my right arm no more. I was depressed for a while, but then I threw away my artificial arm and got this gun grafted in," he waved his gun-arm. "Got a new right arm to get revenge on the Shinra, who took everything away. Back then, I heard the doc say there was another man who got the same operation as me. But, his was the left arm."  
  
Silence again after that, until Aeris broke it a little while after. "But, Dyne's injury was the same as yours, right?"  
  
Tifa nodded and said, "Yeah, that's right. He was deceived by the Shinra, too. He'll probably join us to fight against the Shinra!"  
  
Barret shook his head. "Wouldn't bet on it. I gotta apologize to Dyne before I can rest in peace. An' that's why, I gotta go alone."  
  
Cloud grunted. "'Do whatever you want', is that what you want to hear? Well, I can't let you do it because if you die on me, I'm gonna have nightmares."  
  
"Me too," I added. "Ya can't do this alone, Barret!"  
  
Aeris nodded, "Barret, this isn't the end."  
  
"Weren't you going to save the Planet?" Tifa added.  
  
Barret frowned at her, "Shit, Tifa, you oughtta know by now!" he yelled.  
  
Tifa smiled, "That's all right. I'm not so different from you."  
  
"That's easier to understand. It's you, Barret," Aeris said.  
  
"Right!" Cloud yelled, "So there it is, Barret. So I guess it'll be me, Barret and..."  
  
"Me," I said, with my hand raised.  
  
Cloud grinned and said, "Naw, I think you should take a rest Yuffie. I'm pretty tired, and I'm guessing you must be tired too. It's been a long day, and you've done a lot. So take a seat and relax, alright?"  
  
I smiled and I nodded. "Thanks for your concern, Cloud."  
  
"I'll go then," Tifa said.  
  
Cloud nodded, "Alright. The rest of you stay here and take a rest. And uh. . .try to not have anything stolen."  
  
With that, they left.  
  
So, I took a nap (pretty short, I was awakened by Red because some guys wanted to come in the house to 'party') and I'm writing in my journal.  
  
I hear a knock at the door. I hope Cloud's back. I just want to get out of here. I'm writing by a window in the house and some guy's just sitting there, in the bushes, watching my every move. It's just freaking me out. 


	7. Chocobo Racing!

(Author's Note: My God, I haven't updated in forever, have I? I'm really sorry to those who have been waiting forever for one! Unfortunately, several factors add to me not updating including school (Especially school...I hate the Ontario Curriculum...), family problems, family coping with my issues, etc. I'm just really sorry. Anyhow, here's a short chapter, just for updating purposes. More will get written during this March Break...maybe. By the way... Anyone who can get a hold of the script for the Yuffie/Cloud date scene... can you tell me? That would be SO helpful. Thanks in advance!)  
  
~~May 6th, 2019 – Chocobo Racing!~~  
  
Okay, so... Cloud knocked on the door, and said that Barret and Dyne fought. Barret defeated Dyne and Dyne committed suicide.  
  
Well... that's nice to know. I learned one thing – never make your friends angry. (Come on, they can buy their OWN materia after I... finish my business).  
  
Barret's sitting on the burned couch, staring at a little pendant. I wonder if THAT has any materia. It looks pretty sentimental. He looks pretty upset right now, so I won't bother him. Poor Barret.  
  
Everyone was quiet after Cloud announced Dyne's death. Everyone didn't know what to say, I guess. It wasn't any of my business. And this guy sitting outside the window's making me really nervous. I'm gonna ask Cloud when we're gonna leave.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Okay, so this is how it went. Right now, we're waiting for Cloud again.  
  
"Cloud, when are we gonna leave?!" I asked, trying to sound calm, "This place gives me the creeps!"  
  
Cloud looked away from Barret and down to me. He grinned at me, walked past me to the window where my diary was.  
  
"I'm guessing... that you're getting bothered by that guy staring from the bushes." He said, still grinning, "We'll get out soon, don't worry about a thing, my dear ninja."  
  
(I blushed when he said 'my dear ninja'. That was sweet!)  
  
"I just need to do some... Chocobo Racing." Cloud said dreadfully.  
  
"Chocobo Racing? Are you serious?" Aeris said with glee, "I want to watch you, Cloud!" Cloud smiled at her.  
  
I couldn't help but to get a little... jealous. I don't know why, but I just didn't like him giving her more attention than he did me.  
  
"We'll be cheering for you, Cloud!" I shouted, putting on a smile to hide my jealousy, "You're gonna win that race, no matter what!"  
  
Cloud laughed and said, "Okay, okay... I'll do it... to get you all outta here. Besides... this place doesn't... smell too... good." He walked out the door.  
  
Four hours later...  
  
So, now that I hear another knock at the door, I'm bursting with joy. That means I can get out of this stinkhole and lure everyone to Wutai! I... don't want to listen to that little voice in my head that's saying that I shouldn't steal anything. This is for Wutai, for the pride of Wutai! I MUST do this!  
  
The knock at the door was some guy saying that we could leave now. He brought us out of the desert. He gave Tifa a long look (yeah, we all know what that guy's thinking) and then gave her keys... to our brand new buggy! Aeris decided to call Cloud to tell him the good news. The buggy WOULD make a great getaway vehicle...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Author's Note once again! Short, but sweet. I wanted to make this an update chapter, really, to show that I'm still alive and writing this. Next is Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon, if anyone has any suggestions for the next chapter, let me know. I love hearing from all of you! Haha, your reviews just make me want to keep writing this. Thank you so much.) 


	8. The Turks and Aeris' Lost Love

--May 7th, 2019 – The Turks and Aeris' Lost Love--

A big red buggy. A big red buggy that's gonna get us around. A big red buggy that I can probably steal! Well, it's a good idea, isn't it? Probably not, since Wutai isn't on this continent. We were so relieved when Cloud showed up with this buggy outside the Desert Prison. Now we don't have to put up with people staring at us… or… mostly our wallets.

Right now, we're taking a little time off from driving to rest. We've been through a lot in just a few hours. Across the river separating the Gold Saucer Area from the rest of the continent, there's a village in the middle of the forest. It's called Gonada… Gon… Something… Oh, Gongaga. It's pretty small. I bet it was bigger. You know, before they built the Mako Reactor.

Cloud got a tip from the Gold Saucer Muscular Dio Guy that Sephiroth was heading towards Gongaga, so we went there. We left Red, and Cait behind to look after the buggy. As soon as we entered the forest, we saw the Turks! Well, I never saw them before now, but the rest of the group explained to me that they were some sort of Secret Society for Shinra, and that they were looking for Cloud and the guys. one of them's bald, and the other's… well, cute. I think he's cute. Not as cute as Cloud, though. Who cares… the cute Turk works for Shinra, so he isn't cool anymore.

We saw them talking, so we hid behind some bushes. They were talking about some stuff… Weird stuff. Weird girl-talk stuff. They sounded like a couple of 11-year-old girls.

The Not-So-Cute-Anymore-Turk, Reno, was asking the bald Turk, Rude, "Hey, Rude. Who do you like?"

Rude looked down. He looked like he was getting embarrassed, as if he's never admitted that he ever liked a girl before.

Reno continued, getting a little annoyed (any grown person would, but then again, he was asking the grade school questions), "What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on! Who do you like?"

Rude took very long to answer, as if he was ashamed of what he was going to say. He stiffened a little, then looked around. Finally, as if checking if the coast is clear, he said, in a deep voice, "…Tifa."

I started to giggle, but Tifa put her hand over my mouth. She was blushing a little, but I knew the blushing didn't come out of the fact that she felt flattered. It was out of sheer embarrassment. She put her hand over Aeris' mouth too. Oh, come on, it was funny! Even CLOUD thinks it's funny. Barret began to snort.

Reno looked shocked. "Hmm… That's a tough one," he said, "But… poor Elena! She… You…" It looked like he was going to write a book or direct a movie about the failed romance.

Rude didn't seem to care. "No, she likes Tseng."

Reno was behaving like a little gossip queen who was out of the loop for a couple of months, and who was sorry that he missed some good juicy gossip. "I never knew that!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide open, "But… you know," he leaned forward, "Tseng likes that Ancient."

Now it was Tifa's turn to giggle. Aeris covered Tifa's mouth with her hand.

Cloud frowned, "I wonder why they're wasting time here, talking about who likes who… writing novels…"

Barret said, "Eh, who cares? They're giving us a good show."

A high-pitched, thoroughly annoying voice spoke from behind us… well, actually yelled, "It's so stupid!" We jumped and turned around. "They always talk about who they like or don't like, but Tseng is different." Then, looking at us, as if seeing us for the first time (I guess she talks to herself a lot or something), she yelled at Reno and Rude, "Ah! Oh no! They're here! They're really here!"

Cloud softly repeated, "Really here? Okay, who the hell tipped them off?" He readied his sword.

Barret answered, "A spy, no doubt…"

Reno looked at us, then said to himself, "Hmm… Then it's time." He looked at Rude and then glanced over at Tifa. "Rude, don't go easy on them, even though they're girls."

Rude also glanced at Tifa… more like… looked over her body more than a few times. "Don't worry. I'll do my job."

The blonde-haired women called Elena saluted. "Then we're counting on you! I'll report to Tseng!" Then with a smile, she ran up the path and then out of sight.

Reno shook his head, and then looked over at Cloud. "Aye, it's been a while." He shot a bolt out of his rod which connected with a frog. The frog was killed instantly. With a smirk on his face, he said, pointing his rod straight at Cloud's heart, "Payback time for what you did in Sector Seven."

Cloud looked disgusted. "Out of our way!" he yelled.

Barret shoved us girls back, telling us to stay out of the fight. Well… I guess five against two is a little unfair. I mean, I've never exactly killed a human in their right mind before.

Reno brought his rod to the ready, with Rude at his side, fists clenched, ready for action.

"I don't like being taken for a fool," Reno said, frowning.

"That's as far as you go," Rude added.

Cloud and Barret charged forward, each meeting their own opponent. Cloud and Reno. Barret and Rude. Cloud lunged forward aiming the tip of his sword of Reno's heart. Reno blocked it with his rod, and countered with an electric shock attack, coupled together with jabbing the sharp end of his rod into Cloud's right arm. Cloud cried out loud in pain, blood steadily seeping down his arm.

Oh gawd, Cloud! Oh, he's hurt! But he told us not to get involved…

Cloud quickly took out a Potion, drank it down, and then defended against Reno's next attack.

Barret and Rude seemed to be having fun. Rude was punching away at Barret, and landing almost all of his punches (since Barret's size prevents him from moving around fast). Barret counterattacked with throwing a grenade at Rude, impairing Rude's leg. Rude couldn't get up after that, so he cast a Fire spell. He sneaked away while the flames were licking away at Barret. I think he looked at his watch too…

Reno, seeing that Rude retreated, clashed his rod against Cloud's Hardedge. He clenched his teeth, and then said, "We may be retreating…" He leaped backwards, far away from Cloud's sword. "But we're still victorious!" With that, he ran away.

Aeris, Tifa and I ran forward to quickly give Hi-Potions to and cast Cure spells on Barret and Cloud, who were now sitting on the ground resting. I tended to Cloud's hurt arm, wrapping some cloth around the wound.

Tifa turned in the direction where the Turks ran. She frowned. "Hey, something seems wrong...you know, like they knew we were coming."

Cloud looked up at her and said, "So you picked it up too, huh? I think they followed us… but there weren't any signs of it. Wait…" He took some time to think a little. "Wouldn't that mean…?"

That they were spying on us? How? Maybe it's that weird thing. That Cait Sith thing… I might be wrong, but he seems a little suspicious to me. I'm a ninja. I know these things.

Barret looked startled. "A spy?" He questioned, "No… no way. That can't be possible."

"We should consider it. Considering they're still after me," Aeris said quietly.

Cloud shook his head and got up. "I don't even want to think there's a spy," he said, then nodding, "I trust everyone."

I know, I should feel guilty now. He trusts everyone. And I'm planning to break that trust. No, he'll understand! I'll tell him that it's for Wutai. He'll be nice to me if he understands, right? I know he will. He's Cloud! He's a nice guy. Yup, he'll understand.

When Barret and Cloud were ready to go again, we walked to where that Elena chick went. A little ways more into the forest, we found a destroyed Mako Reactor. That means there must be a town around here somewhere. Or remains of one. We were checking out the reactor, and I thought I saw a glint inside the broken reactor. I was about to tell the others when I heard a helicopter. We ran around behind the reactor so no one could see us. Some other blonde-haired chick in a low-cut red dress and red high-heels came into view, and she was with another Turk. I guess this was Tseng. I think I saw out of the corner of my eye Aeris shrinking further and further back behind the reactor. Cloud mentioned that the woman was Scarlet, head of Shinra Weapon Development. She doesn't look like it.

Scarlet inspected the area I did before. She didn't look satisfied. "Hmph! This isn't any good either. You only get junky materia from junky reactors. This reactor's a failure. What I'm looking for is big, large, huge materia. You seen any?" She asked, turning to Tseng.

Big, large, huge materia? Oh wouldn't that be cool? Then Wutai would be restored forever! We'd have the glory of having the largest materia ever! And then, nations will begin treating us like equals instead of tour guides.

Tseng shook his head and replied, "No, I haven't seen any, but I'll get on it right away."

Scarlet looked satisfied. "You know, with that pale-faced Hojo gone, the Weapon Development's been getting a bigger budget."

Tseng didn't seem to care, and just to humor her, he wearily said, "I envy them."

Scarlet seems like a woman who's full of herself, thinking of herself. "But… if we make the perfect weapon, could that stupid Heidegger even use it?" she asked.

When Tseng didn't answer, Scarlet then said, "Oh… sorry! I forgot Heidegger was your boss!" And then she laughed. Some weird stupid screechy laugh that sounded like 'Kya ha ha'. She gestured to the guy flying the helicopter, and then told Tseng that they were leaving.

When they left, I couldn't help myself. I went to check the place Scarlet checked, and I found a Summon materia. I checked the crystal, and it had the spirit of the Titan inside it. I gave it to Cloud, who was thinking to himself. He's probably worried about that weapon that Scarlet woman was talking about. He shouldn't worry. He has me to help him break it up.

We walked out of that area, and through the forest some more. We came across a… well… it's a broken village. There wasn't much there. We decided to separate and walk around a bit. Cloud, Aeris and Tifa went into a house at the bottom-right side of the village. I found out that the reactor was destroyed, and it took some of Gongaga with it. Some people died of Mako poisoning. There are people who live here, but they look as if they had the life sucked out of them or something. They look like they would never be happy again.

Aeris and Tifa came running out of the house they were in before, with Cloud following. The two girls were on opposite sides of the village. Did they have an argument or something? I don't think they'd fight much. Well, unless it came to Cloud. They think I don't know, but I do! I'm not a little kid. Cloud talked to both of them silently, and they seemed cheered up enough. We came together in the centre of the village and decided to leave. The village didn't really have much to offer. I even felt so sorry for them that I decided not to steal from the materia salesperson! Gee, I wonder if I'm changing a little.

On the way out, we found a Deathblow materia. Cloud gave it to me with a smile, and I smiled back. He's so nice and so cute… I'll treasure the materia forever!

I asked Tifa about what happened in that house before. She said it was absolutely nothing, and said that I should be concerned with Aeris, since it mostly concerned her. I think she's still hiding something, though.

I asked Aeris about what happened before I started to write in my diary. It's so sad! She said she met her long lost boyfriend's parents in that house. They asked her tons of questions, like if she was still his girlfriend, and if he's happy, and if he's having a wonderful time in the ranks of SOLDIER. His name was Zack, and he was also a First Class SOLDIER. Aeris looked a little upset, but she kept talking. She was happy with Zack, that they did many things together like shopping in Sector 6, planting flowers together, trying to have sparring matches. She said that he stopped writing to her five years ago. I listened to her intensely, aware that this can probably happen to me. She cried for weeks after she didn't get any letters from him or didn't see him. Her mom told her that she should move on, that maybe he died during a mission. It took time for her to accept that. She isn't completely over it, but she won't forget him. He was her first boyfriend, after all.

After she finished, she told me that she was glad that I stuck around to listen to her memories. She said that no one really forgets their first love. She said one day I'll truly understand what it feels like to be in love. With that, she went to rest in the buggy.

I think I know what it's like. Not really in love, but to feel something for a boy. I wonder if it's possible for Cloud and me. I know it's wishful thinking, but no one can stop me from liking him, right? When Wutai has respect again, maybe it'll work out. Anyway, I think we're going again. We'll stop at Nibelheim for a rest. That's Cloud and Tifa's hometown. I wonder what it's like?

Barret's saying something about 'getting my scrawny little ninja butt into the buggy'. I wonder if Cloud'll let me drive?

* * *

A/N: Gets down on her knees and begs for forgiveness Sorry! I'm just so busy or… well, lazy… lately. Busy during school, lazy during summer. I'm sorry. With choir, possible music lessons, Kumon math and my last year of high school waiting for me, I won't have lots of time to work on this. I just felt so guilty this week, so I decided to cook this up last night. I want to continue working on this, so bear with me, please! Just thank you so much, to those who were waiting for me to write another chapter, and emailing me to keep writing the fic. I'll try to come up with another chapter shortly after school starts again, but no promises. Thank you very much.  
Dark Schala 


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